The hacker who has presided for 22 years over what is today the biggest hacker conference in the United States talks to TIME about Edward Snowden, Dorian Gray and hackers' changing role in society.
For one weekend every year, thousands of the worldâs bestâor worst, depending on your point of viewâhackers meet in Las Vegas, Nevada, for Defcon. Itâs one of the biggest hacker conferences on Earth, with about 15,000 attendees this year. Itâs an event that some feel pushes the boundaries of legality, as hackers teach one another skills from lock picking and password cracking to evading government surveillance. The weekend is a celebration of hackish whimsy, the right to privacy and radical freedom of expression.